Which Free AntiVirus Software is Best? - Comments Page 1

Bob! The second paragraph says it all!

"I agree that for most users, one of the free anti-virus programs will perform just as well as Norton, McAfee or other commercial software. But which free anti-virus should you choose?"

That's the problem right there - Symantec's products STINK!!!

I've written before that I use Vipre Premium (paid) and Prevx (free but used only for detecting things that Vipre misses for more complete coverage). I belive those two to be the best protection for a very low cost that aren't resource hogs like the others.

Like they say, you get what you pay for.

I personally like Avast!. In all the time that I've been using this free antivirus I have never had a virus on any of my computers. Am I lucky, or is Avast! that good? I don't know, but it works for me, so I guess that the best you can ask for.

Dear Bob

The factor in the AV stakes which is of great importance to me, and is seldom, if ever, mentioned in reviews, is the 'social' behaviour of the utility on my computer.

This criterion is secondary only to the basic requirement that it should afford reasonably effective AV protection.

It is, after all, analogous to a long-staying house-guest, and the more unobtrusively it goes about its daily life, the more I like it.

Having tried many free, and paid-for, AV programs over the past 6 years, I find that the one which has the best 'manners' - the one whose company I most enjoy - is avast!, without any doubt at all.

With good wishes

*PHP

Bob: In 12 years or so of computer use, I've used nearly everything, from Norton and McAfee to some whose names I can no longer remember. I dabbled with free a-v programs for awhile, then became intrigues with the concept of Vipre. I used that for a couple of years, then developed a problem using a Thunderbird/Gmail/Vipre combination. I decided at that point to try a free program. I tested AVG for a couple of months, Avira for a month or so, then finally settled on Avast more than a year ago and have been totally satisfied. I bank on-line, play a few basic on-line games, and shop extensively with never a problem. I highly recommend Avast!!!

The best free antimalware software I've used is something you've mentioned in other articles, but not this one. It's called, Linux. I don't know any Linux user who has ever had his machine infected. I'm not saying it's impossible, but most Windows users I know have had at least one virus.

What about Microsoft's Security Essentials? Some folks won't touch it because it's from Microsoft, while others LIKE it for the very same reason. What say ye?

EDITOR'S NOTE: MSE is improving with each release, and did pretty well on the latest detection tests. Still lags in speed.

You didn't mention microsoft security essentials, which is a very good free anti virus program, though it may slow down older OS versions. But it works great on vista or window7 macines.I use it on my laptop running windows xp pro without any problems, but it slows down my desktop running the same OS. So for that I run avast, it has less "bloatware" than the others mentioned.

Hi Bob
I tried using the Avast Free Anti-Virus on your recommendation using Win XP, and it completely locked up my computer. Potential users of this software should be very aware that I found it extremely difficult to uninstall this software. It would appear in my attempt to do this the software seemed to detect the user as malware trying to disable the program.

The third issue I have with the Avast Free Anti-Virus software, at least the latest version, is that it will only install providing Google Chrome is installed too. However even all I managed to finally uninstall both Avast Free Anti-Virus and Google Chrome, the latter is still attempting to sneak under the radar by adding add-on’s tools to Internet Explorer. Thank goodness for Win Patrol Plus otherwise I would be none the wiser.

If using Win XP think very carefully about using these programs, at least ESET mentioned above never gave me any problems.

mever again buy norton can not buy without master card not insured no teck suport if call them you get mussick you wate a long time you get nothing you get a big bill taken out of master card there no anti virous for windows 98 there is 2 have not tried them moon , clam win have 1 computer over to linex used it a year got no virous

I use AVG which I found out about thru Bob Rankin
it does a great job and I have avoided problems
for a long time now.

Ok! So I'm a sucker. All I know is that when I was using one of the free programs, a problem was detected but there was no notation as to how serious or what I should do. There was no suggestion or choice presented as to what I wanted to do. I'm still not sure what the problem was but it knocked out my ability to download updates to windows and any security updates. I think the man said my Windows installer was compromized. I had absolutely no recourse since the program was "free" and I ended up having to restore my entire system. Thank God it was all backed up via an online back up program. I'm sticking with Norton. I don't care how bad they "STINK". Like Joe said.....you get what you pay for.

How come Microsoft security essentals is not mentioned. I dumped avira for that Program. Does Norton protect me better again Antivirus 20XX (fake antivirus). I still get hit by it, even after getting rid of Avira and installing MSE.

In the beginning of Anti-Virus Programs, the biggest problem was not updating the virus data base, on your PC. Back in the late 90's, AVG was one of the first to have Automatic Updates, when the data became available to AVG. I was a user of AVG for years, just for that feature alone. Was my PC attacked? Yes, but AVG caught them.

As the years ensued, AVG became a huge 'bloated' program and I began to search for another program. I tried Avira and Avast! both, decided on Avast! because it was user friendly and didn't take up a lot of my PC resources. Another reason I choose Avast! was that it was one of the first Free programs that took care of Root-kits. I had read about them and knew that they were a real problem in the Anti-Virus prevention world.

For me, Avast! works, updates throughout the day, monitors for Root-kits, scans all of my downloads and simply works. I can't tell you the last time, I have had a Virus or Trojan Horse or Worm, on my PC. Do I still get notices? Yes, but rarely. Is the threat still out there? Of course, but the FREE Anti-Virus Programs are doing a 'jam up job' of it and helps even the newbies from getting their PC messed up.

Bottom line, the FREE Anti-Virus Programs work and save you lots of money, that can be spend on other things.

The best antivirus out there is "your common sense" .Learn to detect fakes and avoid sites that are of the "less desirable" to navigate too.

Install a few good browser add-ons that will help identify bad sites (Web of Trust comes to mind as does AdBlockPlus).

I've used all of the above mentioned A/Vs, (BTW, they are not anti-malware but, truly antivirus thus, you will have to run , in real time, a antimalware program to supplement)and by far Avira is the lightest and best at dislodging viruses if you are unlucky.

If you really want to pay for a A/V then, Eset Nod32 is the one to pay for.

Someone told me that one of the differences between free and pay anti-virus programs is that paid programs have much faster updates and virus identifications. for example that the free programs get their info from the "big boys". Otherwise how do the free program companies pay for their research? I don't know if it is true but it makes some sense. personally I don't mind paying $30 per year to protect my 3 computers. (Norton Internet Security 2011 now online sales).

After trying various AVs over the years with varying success, I moved to paid Avast which updates daily. When Avast was telling me I was virus-free, my comp was locked solid by System Tool. I eventually shifted it with Stopzilla (paid). So it`s still a case of being alert and trying what works for you.

Well for my 2 cents worth, i have found that for me, (windows 7 64bit, Ie8 and Ie9 and Avant browser) the best combo is Microsoft security essentials (MSE) and avira TOGETHER work just fine. Nothing has gotten tru both of them in about 7 months, sometimes one catches something, sometimes the other one, and sometimes both. Oh I take them off once a week and install another 3 different ones to run full system scans with all system and hidden files showing so i can make sure i am clean. (I have sensitive info) and so far so good. Have a nice day.

I have used most of the free and pro versions.

For me Avast free has been as good as any of them and takes less computer resources than most as well.
I uninstall everything with revo uninstaller,and have never had a single problem uninstalling it.
I like Avira as well. AVG not so much.
Kapersky and Eset were the best pro versions for me.

WOT is helpful but you can pay to get a listed green. As for Free AV's. I'm trying MSE on XP. A year ago I got a ton of false positives from Avast and started to delete some dll files before I realized I was just panicking.
All that Bob recommends are fine just user preference for most. Common sense does rule.

An enthusiastic Avast! (free) user for years (since version 4.x), I recently decided to give other players a second look.

My reason? Although Avast! detection and removal scores are excellent, and Avast! even answers email from its users, my broadband speed dropped considerably when all Avast! 5.x shields were up-- sometimes as much as two or even three Mbps.

For somebody running broadband at a best effort max of 12 Mbps, that is a crisis. When many browser tabs are loaded-- and who doesn't keep many open?-- video begins to stutter, and system response suffers.

So, I went back to the basics and "rebuilt" my system, using Windows firewall as a baseline for average bandwidth readings. I first reinstalled Avast!, believing that Avast! code updates may not have occurred properly, but found no performance change.

Next, I loaded Comodo Internet Services (CIS), whose free version is equally comprehensive-- firewall, AV and rootkit scanner. Yet, Comodo's firewall was difficult to manage and I suffered a slight slowdown from Comodo on my test runs when all of its shields were loaded.

While I expected some overhead, I found both Avast! free and Comodo CIS free versions simply too heavy for my rather slow 2005 system. Here, it should be noted performance depends on CPU, RAM and other factors, and will vary-- those with newer systems may find Avast! free and Comodo CIS free impose no significant load at all.

But with my 2005 system running unacceptably under both Avast! and Comodo Internet Services, I decided to return to an ultra-stripped-down old favorite, Tiny Personal Firewall 2.0, whose speeds matched those under Windows firewall. Next, I added SuperAntiSpyware (free), which does not feature a real-time shield (its paid "Pro" version does), and my speeds were still near 11.x Mbps-- very acceptable.

Since I understand the importance of real-time protection, but also its burden on performance as well, I have reserved judgment of SAS until a test of SuperAntiSpyware Pro is complete. (My problem at the moment is once I uninstalled the free SAS version, I cannot install the SAS Pro trial-- the SAS Pro installer indicates my "trial has expired".)

(To be continued after SAS Pro test results are in.)